The Memories of a Straw Hat
by LuffySmileyFace
Summary: The Straw Hats find themselves watching their beloved captain's memories. How will they react when they see Luffy's past and all the things he's faced alone on their adventures... Takes place after Marine Ford and Luffy's message to the crew.
1. The Straw Hat

**Chapter 1**

**The Straw Hat**

* * *

Zoro woke up to find himself in a seemingly endless white space. He was confused, he couldn't remember there being a place like this on the island where he had been training with Mihawk for the past week.

Zoro sat up and looked around again. This time he noticed with a jolt that all of his nakama were there too. They were all lying on the floor in random places, quite a way apart from each other.

'Is this a dream or something?' Zoro thought, standing up and reaching for his katana, only to find that they weren't there. 'Damn it.'

The rest of the Straw Hats were now waking up too. One by one they all woke up with confused expressions as they took in their bizarre surroundings. Then they noticed Zoro and headed over to him, greeting and hugging each other as they did so.

Zoro looked at each of his nakama in turn as they stood in front of him. He was very happy to see them of course, but be couldn't help but notice that the one he wanted to see the most wasn't there.

"Zoro! Quit spacing out and answer the damn question!" Nami, who was standing in front of him, shouted at him. "Eh?" was Zoro's intelligent response, he didn't even notice someone had asked him something.

"Baka! Usopp asked if you know where we are!" said Nami annoyed.

"How the hell would I know?! I'm dreaming anyway so it doesn't matter." said Zoro while everyone face palmed and Sanji started muttering about retarded marimo's.

"I think he sleeps so much he doesn't even know the difference between dreams and reality anymore." Usopp muttered to Chopper who was standing beside him and immediately went into worrying doctor mode.

"Oh no! But then Zoro's mentally ill! He needs therapy! I-" but Choppers rant was cut off by Robin; "I don't think that we are dreaming, after all it would be strange if we were all coincidentally dreaming the same thing."

"Yeah, and Luffy isn't here." said Sanji.

"Do you think he's ok?" asked Chopper quietly after a minute.

"He's strong, he'll get through it." said Zoro firmly, though he seemed to be talking more to himself then to Chopper.

It was silent for a minute, as everyone thought of their beloved captain. It was then that Usopp noticed a piece of paper at his feet, there was writing on it. He picked it up and turned to the others. "Oi mina, I think I found out where we are." Usopp nervously.

Everyone gathered around Usopp to read what was on the paper.

_You are within Monkey D. Luffy's mind, you have been brought here to witness his memories._

"Err... what?" said Zoro, completely nonplussed.

"How is that even possible!" said Franky. This pretty much summed up everyone thoughts on the situation.

Before anyone had the chance to do or say anything else there was blinding flash. When everyone could see again, they found themselves on a ship full of pirates that they didn't recognize. The pirates didn't seem to be able to see or hear the Straw Hats.

"Oi! what are you doing Luffy?" someone shouted. Hearing this, the Straw Hats looked up to see a small black-haired kid wearing a t-shirt with an anchor on it, a knife in his hand and an angry look on his face.

"I'M NOT JOKING THIS TIME! I'VE HAD ENOUGH! I'LL PROVE IT!" the kid shouted angrily.

"Go for it! Let's see what your gonna do!" "Luffy is going to do something funny again!" was the response of the pirates.

Having now established that the kid was Luffy, the Straw Hats were wondering what he was going to prove. They didn't have to wonder for long however, because Luffy then proceeded to stab himself in the face. Much to the shock of everyone present.

"BAKA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" was shouted by various people, while Luffy was shouting about how much it hurt.

The Straw Hats just face palmed. 'Typical... just typical' "So that's how he got that scar." observed Robin.

* * *

There was a flash of light again, they now found themselves in a very lively bar. The pirates that had been on the ship were all there and seemed to be partying.

Luffy was sitting at the bar next to a man that had flaming red hair and was wearing Luffy's straw hat.

"That must be Shanks." stated Zoro.

"Shanks? But that means..." muttered Usopp, his eyes darting around the bar. Then, apparently not finding what he was looking for, Usopp slumped his shoulders and looked very disappointed. Everyone except Nami and Zoro looked confused at Usopp's behavior.

"It didn't hurt one bit!" said Luffy, with tears in his eyes noted the Staw Hats with amusement.

"You liar! Don't do something so stupid again!" shouted Shanks.

"I'm not afraid of pain at all! Next time bring me out to sea, I want to be a pirate too!" Luffy said excitedly.

"You can't handle being a pirate, not being able to swim is a pirate's greatest weakness!" Shanks told Luffy.

"As long as I stay onboard the ship I'll be fine! And my fighting is pretty good too, my punch is as strong as a pistol!" argued Luffy while striking a fighting pose.

"A pistol? Wow really?" said Shanks sarcastically.

"What kind of tone is that!?" shouted Luffy angrily.

"Luffy! You seem unhappy!" "Be happy to face anything!" "Yeah! A pirates life is great!" "You can go to any island and seek adventure!" "Nothing is greater than freedom!" were the shouts of various pirates in the background.

The Straw Hats now realized that these pirates were probably Luffy's inspiration to become a pirate in the first place.

"The most important thing is that you're too young." Shanks continued. "Wait at least another 10 years and I'll reconsider taking you out to sea."

"Damn it Shanks! I'm not a kid anymore!" Luffy shouted.

"Ah don't me mad. Here, drink some juice." said Shanks, handing Luffy a glass.

"Ok! Thanks!" said Luffy, drinking the juice happily. Shanks immediately started laughing.

"Haha! You really are a kid! How funny!"

"Damn it Shanks! Don't laugh at me!"

"Luffy, would you like something to eat?" asked the lady behind the bar. She was wearing a bandana over her black hair and was carrying a barrel of sake. Sanji was already chanting "Mellorine! Mellorine!" with hearts in his eyes that everyone pointedly ignored.

Luffy lightened up at once at the mention of food. "Ok! I'll pay you with my treasure!"

"What treasure? You're lying again." said Shanks.

"No! I'm definitely going to be a pirate, I'll pay Makino with the treasure I find!" said Luffy, banging his knife and fork on the table.

"Haha! I'll be waiting." Makino giggled.

"Shanks, how long are you gonna stay?" asked Luffy in between mouthfuls of meat.

"Well it's been almost a year since we used this town as our base. I plan on setting sail a couple more times, then we'll leave this town and head north." Shanks answered.

"A couple of times... I'll learn how to swim by then!" said Luffy.

"Alright! Good luck." smiled Shanks.

There was a loud crash as the door was kicked down by a man with a group of people behind him. "Heh, so this is what pirates look like huh? They look pretty stupid to me." he drawled as he walked towards the bar.

"Hey what's Luffy eating? I've never seen anything like that." said Usopp. "That would be a devil fruit." informed Robin. "Tch, figures he'd eat it by accident." said Sanji.

"We're bandits. We're not here to cause trouble, we just want 10 barrels of sake." the bandit leader said.

"I'm sorry, but we are out of sake." said Makino politely. Shanks looked up at the bandit. "Looks like we've finished all the sake here, sorry about that. Here, take the last bottle, it's unopened." he said pleasantly.

The bandit leader answered by smashing the bottle with his fist, with the result that Shanks was now drenched in sake. "Just who do you think I am? One bottle is not enough! See this?" the bandit held up a wanted poster and waved it in front of Shanks' face. "My head is worth 8 million beli, I'm one of the prime fugitives here and I've killed 56 people before."

The Straw Hats were sure that Shanks was going to kick this arrogant bastards ass into next week. But then Shanks did something that reminded them a lot of what the 17 year-old Luffy would have done.

"Now the floor's all wet." he whined as he crouched on the floor and started picking up the glass. "Sorry about that Makino, do you have a mop?"

"It's alright, I'll clean it up." said Makino.

Then the bandit slashed the bar with his sword, resulting in a deep gash in the wood as bits of food and broken plates fell on top of Shanks. "Well it seems like you really enjoy cleaning, now you can enjoy doing it more." the bandit sneered.

The bandits left the bar. There was a moment of silence before all the pirates burst out laughing, including Shanks, who was laughing the hardest. They were interrupted however by a fuming Luffy.

"THAT WAS DISGRACEFUL! WHY DIDN'T YOU FIGHT HIM? YOU'RE NOT A MAN AND YOU'RE NOT A PIRATE EITHER!"

"Luffy-san sure was hot headed when he was young" chuckled Brook.

Shanks just looked amused by Luffy's outburst. "Look I know how you feel, but it's just a bottle of sake. Theres nothing to get worked up about." he said, putting the soaking wet straw hat back on his head.

Luffy was not amused. "I don't want to see you again, coward!" he stated as he turned his back to Shanks and started to walk away. "Oh come on Luffy, don't go.." Shanks said as he grabbed Luffy's arm to stop him. Luffy kept walking, with the result that his arm stretched.

Everyone in the bar spit out whatever they had in their mouth in shock. "His arm is stretching! Thats..." exclaimed Shanks in surprise. "AAAH! WHAT'S HAPPENING!" screamed Luffy.

The Straw Hats were laughing very hard by this point, it was just too funny to see Luffy reacting like this over one of his arms stretching.

"Luffy did you eat this!?" asked a very fat, round pirate who was holding up a drawing of the devil fruit.

"Well yeah, isn't that dessert?" he answered nervously. "It tasted pretty bad though." he added as an afterthought.

"THAT'S THE FRUIT OF RUBBER!" Shanks shouted franticly in Luffy's face. "WHOEVER EATS IT WILL TURN INTO A RUBBER MAN AND WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SWIM!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!?" Luffy screamed in shock.

* * *

Another bright flash. They were still in the bar, but this time it was empty except for two people. Makino was washing some glasses while Luffy sat on a bar stool across from her.

"They've been away for a while now, do you feel lonely Luffy?" asked Makino. "No I don't!" said Luffy, though it didn't sound very convincing.

"Doesn't he have any friends?" wondered Usopp out loud.

"What about Ace?" said Chopper.

"They don't have the same parents right? Maybe they haven't met yet." pointed out Sanji.

"Well, looks like the pirates aren't here today, it sure is quiet." came a familiar voice from the door. The bandits sat down at the tables and demanded sake. At first everything seemed fine, but then the bandits conversation turned towards Shanks and his crew.

"Remember the expression on those pirates faces the other day? He didn't even say anything after getting hit with a bottle! What a gutless pansy!" laughed one of the bandits.

"When I see a chicken like that it just makes me so mad, I really wanted to kill him. Pirates only know how to act cool." sneered the bandit leader.

"SHUT UP! DON'T UNDERESTIMATE SHANKS! HE'S NOT A COWARD!"

"Oi oi, didn't Luffy just call Shanks a coward himself?" said Usopp.

The bar fell silent as all the bandits turned towards the source of the deafening shout. Luffy was standing on his stool shaking with anger and probably would have attacked the bandit if Makino hadn't been holding him back. "Luffy calm down!"

The bandit leader stood up and made his way over to Luffy. "What was that brat?" he growled, grabbing the front of Luffy's shirt, lifting him into the air and out of Makino's grip. "What did you say to me?" the bandit asked again.

"I told you to shut up!" Luffy shouted angrily into his face, all the while trying to punch him.

The bandit looked livid. "You've pissed me off brat." He turned around and walked out of the bar with Luffy still struggling in his grasp with the rest of the bandits following after them. "H-hey let me go! Where are you taking me?"

The Straw Hats followed the bandits outside while a frantic Makino ran down the street, supposedly to get help. Everyone had a fair guess on what the bandits where going to do and looked on with stony faces as they started to beat Luffy up.

"Oh a rubber man huh? If I sell him to a circus I can sure get a lot of money..." the leader sneered as he threw Luffy to the ground and stomped on his head with his foot, effectively pinning Luffy down. "We were just having a good time drinking and talking... did we say something that pissed you off?"

"Yes you did! Apologize right now damn it!" Luffy yelled angry as ever, covered in scratches and missing a tooth. He grunted in pain as the bandit stomped on his head again.

Chopper growled at the bandit, the rest of the crew was furious. It was good thing Luffy was already a rubber man.

"Let the child go! please!" shouted a small old man from behind the group of bandits. Makino was standing next to him looking very worried. "I don't know what Luffy did and I don't want to argue with you, but I'm willing to pay! So please let the child go!" the man continued to plead.

"As one would expect, it's the elders that know the proper way to deal with any situation." the bandit leader drawled. "But it's too late now, this shitty brat really pissed me off. When a weakling like him insults me it makes me so angry!" he kicked Luffy hard in the stomach to prove his point.

"It's...your fault...you wild...baboon!" Luffy gasped angrily.

"...Fine, I'm not gonna sell you, I'll kill you instead." he said in a low voice, taking his sword out and holding it just above Luffy's chest.

"LUFFY!"

"Please let him go!"

"I was wondering why nobody welcomed us at the port... so this is why..." spoke a familiar voice from behind Makino. Shanks had come back. "Luffy! What's wrong? Isn't your punch as strong as a pistol?" he asked as he walked towards them.

"If you get any closer I might have to open fire, you coward!" shouted one of the bandits, Shanks however, ignored this and walked on until he was standing next to said bandit. "Didn't I tell you not to come any closer?! Do you want to get shot?" the bandit smirked as he pointed his gun at Shanks' face while he rest of them laughed.

"Risk your life on it...with that pistol, risk your life on it." said Shanks calmly, not looking at the now confused bandit. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"This isn't a tool to scare people with." the second Shanks finished his sentence there was a sudden, loud bang. The bandit fell to the ground before the feet of the fat, round cook of Shanks' crew.

Nami, Zoro and Usopp laughed. "Oi, what the hell is so funny?" asked a confused Franky. "When we first met Usopp, Luffy intimidated him with that same speech." said Zoro grinning.

"...You-you killed him!"

"Now you've done it bastard!"

"That was dirty!"

"Dirty? You think we're saints or something? We're pirates you know!" said a pirate with dreadlocks, he had a headband that said 'Yasopp' on it and a gun in his belt.

Everyone heard Usopp's sharp intake of breath and looked around at him. By the looks of it he was trying hard not to cry, but ultimately failed as tears started to roll down his cheeks. "Tou-chan..." he uttered in a choked voice.

Everyone except Nami and Zoro was slightly surprised that Usopp's dad was in Shanks' crew, now Usopp's behavior from before made sense. "Wow is that your dad Usopp? He's so cool!" said Chopper excitedly. This seemed to cheer Usopp up a little because he smiled and proceeded to boast about Yasopp as he dried his eyes. "Well of course he's cool, he's the dad of the great Captain Usopp after all!"

"Listen well bandits..." Shanks began in a serious voice. "You can spill food or sake, or even spit on me, I'll just laugh about it ...but! I WON'T FORGIVE ANYONE THAT HURTS MY FRIENDS!"

"HAHAHAHA! You won't forgive me?!" the bandit leader howled with laughter. "You want to challenge us!? We will destroy you!" the bandits all charged at Shanks. Shanks' first mate stepped forward and pulled out his gun. "Let me handle this, I can take care of them myself." he said calmly. Within seconds, all the bandits lay knocked out on the ground.

"Don't overestimate yourselves! If you want to fight us you better get a fleet of marines to back you up."

Luffy was in awe of the pirates strength, he was still being pinned to the ground by the bandit leaders foot. Said bandit however, looked about to wet himself. "W-wait a minute! This little brat messed with us first!"

"Isn't there a reward on your head?" Shanks smirked. The bandit paled.

Then, without warning, a cloud of smoke erupted in the street. The Straw Hats couldn't see anything, but they heard Luffy, the bandit leader and Shanks shouting. "Come with me brat!" "Ow damn it! Let go of me!" "Luffy!"

There was a flash and the Straw Hats now found themselves in the middle of the sea. They all looked around at the familiar drawling voice of the bandit leader, he was standing in a small boat. Luffy was sitting as far away from the bandit as he could, now looking slightly afraid.

"Well, I only used you as a hostage, but you're useless now!" the bandit smirked and kicked Luffy out of the boat into the dark sea water. Luffy was struggling to stay above water while the bandit just laughed, he didn't notice the massive head of a sea king come up behind him. It was over in a second, the small boat and the bandit didn't stand a chance against the mighty jaws of the sea king.

The Straw Hats had to keep reminding themselves that this was a memory and they couldn't save him. They were forced to watch as the sea king noticed Luffy, who was crying and screaming for somebody to help him, and advanced on the terrified boy.

They couldn't see how Luffy would get out of this situation, he was 2 seconds away from being eaten. The sea king snapped it's jaws shut. The Straw Hats were shocked, they couldn't see Luffy anywhere and there was blood in the water. The sea king suddenly went ridged and backed away, apparently frightened by something.

It was then that the crew saw where Luffy was. Shanks was holding him tightly against his chest. "Get lost!" Shanks told the sea king with an intense look and it fled.

"D-did he just scare that sea monster off with just a scary look?!" exclaimed Usopp in awe. "I believe that was Haoshoku Haki, only one in a million people carry that power." said Robin with a knowing smile.

"Makino told me everything, thanks for sticking up for us Luffy." said Shanks.

"B-but Sh-Shanks!..." Luffy managed to say though his sobs. "Your arm!"

Shanks' left arm had been completely ripped away by the sea king, the wound was bleeding heavily, but he didn't seem to care. "It's nothing, it's just an arm... as long as you're alive." Luffy buried his face into Shanks' chest and started crying loudly.

The Straw Hats knew that Shanks had somehow lost his arm from when they met Rayleigh, but seeing the scene actually play out in front of them was something else.

"I didn't know Shanks was such a great person." said Nami, slightly dazed. The rest silently agreed.

Another flash and the crew now found themselves at the harbor of Luffy's village. Shanks' crew was loading crates and barrels onto their ship, while Shanks himself was standing next to it with Luffy.

"Are you really leaving this time?" asked Luffy.

"Yep, we've stayed here long enough, it's about time we move on." said Shanks as he looked out at the sea. It was quiet for minute before Shanks asked "Are you upset?"

Luffy looked at the ground. "Yeah.." he mumbled sadly. "But I decided to become a pirate by myself!" said Luffy, smiling up at Shanks.

Shanks, being the mature person that he is, stuck his tongue out at Luffy. "Ha! You don't have what it takes to become a pirate!"

"YES I DO! One day I'll have a crew that is as strong as yours! And then I'll find the world's greatest treasure and become the king of the pirates!" Luffy yelled fiercely.

"Oh? So you want to be bigger than us huh... well then..." said Shanks as he reached up to the straw hat that sat on the flaming red hair he was so famous for, and placed it on Luffy's head. "This hat is my gift to you."

Luffy's lip trembled and tears started to make their way down his face. Shanks crouched down to Luffy's hight and wrapped his arm around him, pulling him close. Luffy instantly leaned into Shanks, grabbing his white shirt tightly.

"When you become a great pirate in the future, you'll return that hat to me. It will be our promise, Luffy." said Shanks in a soft voice, smiling fondly. Luffy nodded into Shanks' chest. After a few minutes they broke apart and after squeezing Luffy's shoulder reassuringly, Shanks made his way to the ship.

The Straw Hats watched in silence as Luffy stood alone on the dock. Pulling the brim of Shanks' hat down to hide his eyes while the tears continued to fall as the ship got smaller and smaller on the horizon. They now realized that Shanks had played a big part in making Luffy the amazing person he was. And judging from the interaction between the two, Shanks was probably more of a father figure to Luffy than that crazy old grandfather of his.

* * *

**A/N: This took me a long time to write, so I don't know how long it will take to update. I know the beginning is a bit weird, I just really wanted to get to the point, so there is no mysterious reason why the Straw Hats are watching Luffy's memories. They just are, because there are not enough of these memory fics around. I also changed some minor things in the scene where Shanks leaves, because lets face it, Shanks would be an awesome father figure. ^_^**

**Please let me know if you think this is good, do you think the Straw Hats should react more?**

**Next chapter will be the meeting of Luffy and Ace.**


	2. The Brothers Meeting

**First of all I want to thank everyone who reviewed, faved and followed my story! It really gave me the motivation to keep going when I got a bit stuck on some parts. Oh and a small thing; I've replaced the 'white flashes' in between the memories with lines because is was just to annoying to write and I think it should be clear like this as well. And now on with chapter 2!**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**The Brothers Meeting**

* * *

The Straw Hats were now in a jungle and by the looks of it a pretty dangerous one. They could see extremely vicious animals all over the place. Usopp and Chopper started freaking out, even though the beasts couldn't see or harm them, as Sanji pointed out.

"This is Luffy's memory right? But I don't see him anywhere." said Nami.

As soon as the words were out of Nami's mouth, they heard voices coming. One of the voices sounded very childlike, while the other sounded old and gruff.

"I told you already ji-chan! I'm gonna be the pirate king!"

"Pirate king my foot!"

Yep, that was definitely Luffy and his grandfather alright. The two now came into view, Garp had a hold of Luffy's cheek, dangling him in the air as he walked through the jungle. Luffy didn't seem very happy about this, he was struggling and trying to slap Garp's leg.

"Not only did you eat a devil fruit, but now you're spouting crap as well! Luffy! Both you and Ace are going to be the strongest marines that ever lived when you grow up!" Garp continued his rant.

"Owwww! Why does this hurt if I'm made of rubber?! Please let me go ji-chan!" Luffy whined.

"Leaving you in that peaceful Foosha village was a mistake." Garp muttered darkly.

"Oh man, don't tell me this is when that crazy geezer leaves him in the jungle." said Sanji, remembering their run-in with Garp in Water 7.

After a while Garp walked into a clearing, where he finally put Luffy back on the ground. There was a large, wooden hut in the middle of the clearing. "What's this place?" Luffy asked no one in particular, and started running around to explore. Garp walked up to the front door and started pounding on it with his fist. "Dadan! Get out here!"

The door opened with a bang. In the doorway stood a very large, scary looking woman, supposedly Dadan, with two men behind her. One of them was very short and held a dictionary in his hand, the other looked a bit like a chicken. "G-Garp-san! You've gotta be kidding me, I wish you'd just leave me alone for a change. That Ace is already ten years old you know!" Dadan said angrily.

"Is he? How is he doing?" asked Garp, laughing.

"It's nothing to laugh about! I'm not gonna be able to handle much more of this, if he gets any wilder we won't be able to control him at all! Take him back already!" Dadan yelled in Garp's face.

"So Ace lives there.." concluded Usopp.

"I can't believe Garp dumped a kid somewhere he obviously isn't wanted!" exclaimed Nami.

"Yeah, about that..." began Sanji. "The newspaper said that Ace is the son of Gold Roger, and if that's true, how the hell did a Vice Admiral of the marines get him?"

Nobody answered, as they obviously didn't know how Ace ended up in the care of Garp. Luffy, who was running in circles around his grandpa was suddenly hoisted into the air by the back of his shirt. "Take care of him too." said Garp.

"What?! Who is that kid?" asked Dadan annoyed.

"He's my grandson." said Garp.

"What?! We've gotta take care of another one?!"

"Garp-san's grandson?!"

"Not happening!"

"Well then you're going to have to make a decision... live the rest of your lives behind bars, or raise him. I've turned a blind eye so far, but you've committed as many crimes as there are stars in the sky." grinned Garp.

"So he's basically just blackmailing them." muttered Zoro, sweat dropping.

While Garp and Dadan continued arguing, Luffy wondered over to the edge of the jungle, when suddenly something wet hit him in the face. "Spit! Hey who did this?!" said Luffy angrily, looking around to see who had done it. When his eyes fell on a shadowy figure. "Hey you! Say sorry, that's gross!" Luffy yelled, walking towards the figure. This caught Garp's attention. "Oh! Ace!" he said happily, walking over to Luffy.

The Straw Hats now saw a young Ace for the first time. To say that they were surprised was an understatement, especially the ones that had met Ace back in Alabasta. He was sitting on top of a large rock, his arms crossed and a long pipe that was covered in dried blood in one hand. He had a very angry, cold look on his face and a fierce hatred in his eyes.

"I-is that really Ace? He looks scary." stuttered Usopp, remembering the polite, kind and patient Ace he knew.

"I wonder what happened to make him like that.." murmured Nami sadly.

"That's Ace, he's three years older than you. You're going to live here from today forward, so you better get along, got it?!" Garp told Luffy, hitting him on the head.

Garp left, leaving behind a fuming Dadan ranting about having to take care of another little monster. Ace jumped off the rock and walked towards the hut, completely ignoring Luffy. When Luffy followed Ace inside, a whole group of people including Dadan and Ace were devouring a pile of meat. He fought tooth and nail for a piece of meat, but everyone kept pushing him out of the way and in no time at all, everything was claimed.

In the end Luffy was given a very small bowl of rice, that he ate in barely one mouthful. "I want another bowl!" demanded Luffy, holding his bowl up to Dadan.

"You don't realize where you've been left do you?!" asked Dadan irritably.

"No." answered Luffy.

"Then I'll tell you. This is the hideout of the mountain bandits who rule Mt. Corvo, the Dadan family!" said Dadan.

"Mountain bandits? I hate those guys." said Luffy with a frown.

"Shut it brat! It's already a pain in the ass raising you, if you don't like it here you can get out and starve to death!" Dadan yelled in Luffy's face. Luffy flinched slightly.

Sanji made an angry noise at the mention of Luffy starving. He was liking Dadan less and less, even if the was a woman.

"I'm still hungry... I want that meat too..." Luffy whined sadly as he looked over to Ace, who was devouring large chunks of meat.

"This is meat is from a buffalo that Ace captured, he shares it with us so he gets to sit at our table. The life of a mountain bandit is harsh. You will have a lot of work tomorrow! You will clean, do the laundry, polish our shoes and weapons, as well as steal, swindle and murder people! And you must not tell Garp what we make you do! One bowl of rice and one glass of water a day, that's all I'm giving you. Anything else you'll have to get for yourself." Dadan told Luffy.

"Why do I have the feeling that he's not going to listen to anything they say?" muttered Nami dryly.

"Ok." said Luffy.

"You're fine with it?! You should be crying by now!" shouted Dadan incredulously.

"Ji-chan abandoned me in the jungle once. Earthworms, frogs, snakes, mushrooms... there are plenty of stuff to eat! Besides, I'm gonna be a pirate someday, so I've gotta deal with at least this much!" said Luffy determined.

The Straw Hats looked slightly disgusted at Luffy's summary of jungle food.

Ace stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where's he going?" questioned Luffy, before running after him. "O~i!" called Luffy when he caught up to Ace, who was just walking through the door. But Ace ignored him and slammed the door in his face. Luffy looked a tiny bit hurt for a moment before determination took over and he pushed the door open, running to catch up to Ace.

"Hey! Wait up!" called Luffy. Ace, who stood on a small hill, looked back at Luffy with a very annoyed look.

"I'm Luffy! I'm not angry that you spat on me anymore! It's nothing to get worked up about! Let's be friends!" Luffy shouted, waving his arms and grinning happily.

The Straw Hats were once again reminded of the influence Shanks had had on Luffy.

Ace ignored him, turned towards a huge tree and brought it to the ground with three powerful kicks.

Sanji was impressed to say the least. Chopper, Usopp, Franky and Nami all had their mouths hanging open at Ace's strength. Luffy had said that Ace was strong, but this was ridiculous. Next thing they knew however, Ace had kicked the tree in Luffy's direction so that it rolled down the hill, gathering speed.

Luffy ran as fast as his short legs could carry him, yelling loudly. But the tree caught up with him and crushed him against the wall of a cliff. Ace just kept walking without so much as a backward glance, the same dark, angry expression ever present on his face.

"What the hell?! Is Ace trying to kill him?!" exclaimed Usopp.

"It's a good thing Luffy's made of rubber or that would have killed him." said Robin matter-of-factly.

"How can you say that so casually?!" Usopp yelled.

Luffy wriggled his way out from in between the tree and the cliff. He had scratches all over him, a nasty cut on his forehead and twigs and leaves stuck in his hair. "Stupid Ace, why'd he do that? Luffy muttered angrily to himself before taking off after Ace again.

Luffy finally caught up to Ace, who was walking across a rickety wooden bridge. The bridge swayed when Luffy stepped onto it, alerting Ace. Ace looked around and made a noise of surprise when he saw who it was. Luffy stood still as soon as Ace turned, catching his breath. Ace seemed to have made up his mind about something and started to walk towards Luffy, who began giggling happily. Ace broke into a jog, he gripped his pipe with two hands and his ever present frown darkened.

The Straw Hats saw the change immediately, Ace was obviously going on the offensive and attacking Luffy again. But trusting and naïve Luffy was just standing there, innocently giggling, thinking Ace was going to be his friend. They watched in shock how Ace smacked Luffy so hard with his pipe he was sent flying off the bridge and into the dark, deep ravine below. Ace stood, looking down, watching the screaming Luffy fall for a moment with a dark, hate-filled expression on his face before walking off.

"What the hell is his problem? Luffy didn't do anything!" Zoro growled furiously, he looked about ready strangle Ace. The rest of the crew were having similar thoughts. They couldn't believe that this was Ace, Luffy's older brother Ace, the Ace that had asked them to look after Luffy for him. Chopper, Nami and Usopp seemed to be in some kind of shock. Zoro, Sanji and Franky were fuming, Brook looked to be frowning and Robin had a sad, thoughtful look on her face. She had an idea about what might have caused Ace to be the way he was.

* * *

The Straw Hats were back in the clearing where the bandit hut was, the sky was dark. A small figure was walking through the trees, breathing heavily. As he stepped into the clearing, the moonlight lightened the figure up and they could see that it was Luffy. He looked like hell. Every inch of his body was scratched and bruised, his shirt was torn up beyond repair, he had several nasty gashes on his chest and shoulders, one of his eyes was bloody and swollen and there was a cut on his forehead that was bleeding.

As Luffy got closer to the hut a dog started barking and a few minutes later the door was thrown open by Dadan.

"EH?! It's you! You're still alive?!" yelled Dadan in shock. At her shout, more bandits came to the door.

"Hey! That Luffy came back alive!"

"What?! It's been a week already!"

"Where the hell were you?!"

"I was being chased by wolves and I fell off a cliff." said Luffy tiredly.

"Chased by wolves for a whole week?!" squeaked Usopp.

"I think he left out some major details." muttered Sanji.

"The cliff? What did you go there for?!" shouted Dadan. Luffy didn't answer.

"Well, in any case, it's a good thing he's safe." said the shortest bandit.

"The hell it is! This just means that the troublemaker had returned!" Dadan shouted annoyed. She grabbed Luffy by what was left of his shirt, took him to the room Ace was sleeping in and dropped him on the floor.

"Go to sleep for now! We're putting you to work tomorrow!" said Dadan before closing the door with a snap. Luffy fell asleep instantly.

"THEY DIDN'T TREAT HIS WOUNDS!" Chopper roared and everyone took a step back from him.

"Oi Chopper! Calm down it's just a memory and he's probably going to be fine." said Zoro.

"But they didn't even care that he was ok!" said Chopper, his eyes glazed with angry tears. Zoro didn't say anything, but put his hand on Chopper's shoulder in a comforting gesture.

After that the Straw Hats watched Luffy chase after Ace day after day and never catch up, how Ace just kept shunning and hurting him, but Luffy never gave up and was determined to be friends with Ace. At night, Ace wouldn't let Luffy anywhere near him. Luffy would try to sit next to him at dinner and sleep next to him at night, but Ace would just punch him to the other side of the room. So Luffy would usually grab his blanket and curl up in a corner somewhere and fall asleep.

* * *

One evening, a month after Luffy had been sent to live with Dadan, the bandits were eating dinner and drinking large amounts of sake that they had robbed from a nearby village. Luffy was sitting against the wall just outside the room all the bandits were in. He looked absolutely miserable, he had his knees up against his chest with his arms wrapped around them and his face was hidden by his straw hat.

Luffy was thinner than he should be, to the point that he looked quite unhealthy. Dadan still only gave him one tiny bowl of rice a day, and while he did eat various things in the jungle, it wasn't enough to quench Luffy's enormous appetite. And add to that, that he was shunned by everyone around him, gave him every right to be miserable.

For the Straw Hats it was painful to watch Luffy go through all of this, he was deprived of the things he loved and needed the most. Food, human contact and friends.

They could here the short bandit and a drunk Dadan having a conversation through the door that stood slightly ajar.

"Boss! I think we should feed that Luffy more, he looks like he's getting unhealthy." said the bandit nervously.

"What!? Leave me alone! If he isn't strong enough to get his own food he'll just have to starve!" Dadan shouted.

Sanji scowled.

"But won't that look bad if Garp-san comes to visit!" argued the bandit.

"Why do we have to look after Garp-sans grandson in the first place!? This isn't a kindergarten damn it! He should look after his own grandson!" Dadan complained loudly.

"Why didn't you just tell him that?" asked another bandit.

"What was that?!" Dadan yelled in the bandits face.

At that moment Ace came in through the front door and into the small, narrow hall Luffy was currently in. He kicked the door shut behind him and walked towards the room that the bandits were in, completely ignoring Luffy as usual. Ace was just about to push the door open, but stopped dead when Dadan continued to complain loudly.

"Besides, I've had enough of that Ace too! In my opinion, it would be best if he just went somewhere and died. Then we could just tell Garp it was an accident. But of course that won't happen, this is what they mean by 'A devils child has a devils luck'. He _is_ the child of a devil after all."

At the last sentence Ace flinched and his whole expression changed from a slight aloof frown to that cold, bitter glare of his.

"Just think about what would happen if the government found out! What do you think would happen to us?!" Dadan continued.

"Now, now boss. Don't you think you've had too much to drink?"

Ace turned around and walked back towards the front door and out into the night, his face shadowed by his hair and his hands curled into fists. Luffy stayed where he was and fell asleep some time after Ace left.

Sanji was seething. "How the fuck can someone say those things to a child?! And starving Luffy for a shitty reason! He's only seven years old for fucks sake!"

"Yeah! They only care about themselves! Luffy's probably suffering from malnutrition, he can get really sick from that!" Chopper yelled franticly.

"If that's how he's been treated all his life, I'm surprised Ace isn't worse." said Nami, her voice a mixture of sadness and rage.

Even if Luffy was usually depressed in the evenings, he seemed to wake up every morning with renewed determination. His relentless pursuit of Ace lasted for another two months. During that time Luffy grew stronger, he chased after Ace further and further every day, learning to avoid Ace's attempts at getting rid of him and make his way over the impossible terrain.

Luffy was now making his way up a steep hill, he had lost sight of Ace again, but kept trudging forward in the direction Ace had been going. When Luffy finally made it to the top, the trees stopped. He had made it out of the jungle and all that could be seen for miles were smoking mountains of trash. In the distance there was a massive wall that looked like it was built around a city.

"Wow! What is this place?" Luffy exclaimed in awe.

* * *

**Next chapter is obviously when Luffy meets Sabo and the whole Porchemy thing. It apparantly takes me about a month or so to write a chapter, so stick with that. But I will try my best to update quickly.**


	3. The Gray Terminal

**Chapter 3**

**The Gray Terminal**

* * *

Luffy made his way down the hill and started to wonder around the piles of smoking junk, calling Ace's name. After Luffy had wondered around for some time, he finally caught sight of Ace jogging towards the forest in the distance and disappearing between the trees. Luffy giggled with delight and followed.

By the time Luffy made it to the forest, Ace was nowhere to be seen, but of course he kept going until he heard voices. As Luffy got closer, the voices, that seemed to be coming from high up in a tree, became audible.

"I wonder how much we need to get a pirate ship."

"I don't know, 10 million or 100 million maybe? Long way to go."

As soon as Luffy herd the term 'pirate ship' he ran up to the tree that the voices were coming from. "A pirate ship?!" he yelled, waving his arms in the air. At Luffy's yell, two figures poked their heads over the edge of the massive branch they were standing on. One of them was undoubtedly Ace, the other however, the Straw Hats didn't recognize.

He looked to be the same age as Ace, he was wearing a blue coat and blue shorts with a black top hat sitting on top of short, curly blond hair. He also carried a pipe similar to that of Ace. Both boys were glaring down at Luffy.

"You guys! Are you gonna become pirates?! I'm gonna be one too!" Shouted Luffy happily, still waving his arms around.

Ace and the other kid exchanged a look before climbing out of the tree, running up to Luffy and punching him in the head while yelling at him to be quiet. Ace then grabbed a rope out of seemingly nowhere and tied Luffy to a tree. Luffy didn't seen worried by this at all, in fact, he was still grinning up at the two boys standing in front of him.

"Ace! I didn't know that you travel this far every day!" said Luffy.

"Shut up!" shouted Ace.

The Straw Hats noticed that this was the first time Ace had ever said anything to Luffy.

"Is this the Luffy you were talking about?" muttered the blond kid, his arms crossed and a skeptical look on his face.

Luffy lightened up immediately. "You told him about me?!" he asked Ace.

"I told him how annoying you are." said Ace irritated.

"He also told me that you're empty-headed and weak." added the blond kid.

Luffy wilted slightly.

"He finally got all the way here, even though I didn't take any walkable routes." grumbled Ace.

"This is why I told you to live here with me, your 'training on the mountain road' turned out to be bad!" the blond kid told Ace before sighing. "What should we do?"

"He found our secret, he's gonna tell somebody if nothing is done." said Ace. It was quiet for a moment as Ace thought about it. "We have to kill him." he said finally, completely serious. The boy with the top hat nodded in agreement.

"WHAT?!" yelled the Straw Hats in shock. "How can they be so serious about that?!" shouted Usopp.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" screamed Luffy so loudly that Ace and his friend clapped their hands over their ears.

"I DIDN'T THINK YOU GUY'S WERE GONNA KILL ME! HELP ME I DON'T WANNA DIE!" screamed Luffy, desperately trying to wriggle free of the rope.

"Sabo do it!" yelled Ace.

"What are you talking about? You do it!" the boy now known as Sabo yelled back.

"I've never killed anyone before!" shouted Ace over Luffy's continues screams.

"Not for lack of trying." muttered Zoro darkly

"Me neither and I don't know how!" Sabo shouted back.

Ace and Sabo fell silent at once when they heard a voice not too far off. "Hey, I heard voices from here! Kids voices!"

"Crap! Someone's coming!" said Sabo, lowering his voice.

"Set him free for now, we have to move from here or they'll find our treasure." said Ace.

Luffy was freed of the ropes and dragged behind some bushes by Sabo, Ace leading the way.

"Everybody knows those brats around here. Ace and Sabo. Are you sure it was Ace who took the money?" the voice continued, it's owner now coming into view through the trees. The voice belonged to a very large man with lilac hair and hardly any neck. He also carried a sword and was accompanied by three other slightly more normal looking men.

"Yes. We're sorry, we shouldn't have let our guard down." said the man who had apparently broken his arm, for it was heavily bandaged and in a sling.

"That stupid brat, he can't just steal our money! If captain Bluejam finds out about this he's gonna kill all of us." growled the massive guy.

The Straw Hats figured that these men were pirates and they didn't think they were the nice kind.

Meanwhile Ace, Sabo and Luffy had been hiding behind the bushes and as soon as they could see the pirates, Ace and Sabo's eyes widened slightly.

"Damn it! I didn't know those thugs were working for Bluejam!" whispered Ace angrily to himself. Sabo turned his head sharply to Ace. "Thugs? You mean you stole that money from those guy's?!"

Ace didn't say anything.

"That guy carrying a real sword is Bluejam's underling Porchemy. He's crazy you know, I heard he tears the skin off the face of the people he defeats, while they're still alive!" Sabo told Ace under his breath.

"We can't let ourselves be seen." muttered Ace, stating the obvious.

Sabo glanced at Luffy, only to find that the kid wasn't next to him anymore. The Straw Hats had all been listening to Ace and Sabo, none of them had seen Luffy leave the bushes. Then, an all too familiar voice screamed. "Let go of me! What are you doing?!"

Everyone turned towards the scream. Porchemy was holding Luffy up by the shirt in front of his face. Luffy was screaming and flailing his limbs madly.

The Straw Hats sweat dropped. Trust Luffy to get himself caught by crazy sadistic pirates.

"Who is this little shit?" said Porchemy, ignoring Luffy's feeble attempts to punch him.

"Help me! Ace!" Luffy yelled. Porchemy brought Luffy closer to his face, his expression suddenly serious. Luffy stopped struggling.

"Did you just call for 'Ace'? Do you know him?" asked Porchemy.

"I'm his friend!" declared Luffy, before realizing something. "Oh, but he just tried to kill me." he said in the matter-of-fact way that only Luffy could. Ace and Sabo could be seen glaring daggers at Luffy from between the bushes, Ace also seemed to be cursing under his breath.

"I don't know if you know this, but Ace stole some money from us today. You wouldn't happen to know where it is now would you?" Porchemy asked Luffy.

"I-I don't know." stuttered Luffy, looking anywhere but Porchemy and promptly beginning to whistle. The Straw Hats groaned simultaneously and a few face-palmed, it was well known to them that Luffy couldn't lie to save his life.

Porchemy and his men started to laugh ominously. "It's too bad you don't know. Don't worry, I'll help you bring back the memory." said Porchemy in a sinister voice, a horrible twisted grin on his face and a crazed gleam in his eyes. Luffy seemed to shrink into himself, obviously intimidated. The pirates started to leave with Luffy still in Porchemy's grasp, screaming again to be let go.

The Straw Hats didn't like where this was going, these people were obviously planning something bad.

"They're not really going to hurt him are they? They're just joking right?" asked Chopper, looking up at Zoro.

"I don't know Chopper, they didn't really look like they were joking." said Zoro gravely.

"B-but he's just a kid! They can't!" exclaimed Usopp.

"They can and they will, monsters like that don't care." Nami said angrily, brushing the skin on her shoulder where Arlong's mark had once been.

"There are cruel people in the world." agreed Robin.

They watched as Luffy was taken to a shack somewhere in the mounds of trash and bound tightly, Porchemy left for a few seconds and came back with an enormous wooden hammer that was about ten times the size of Luffy.

"Well if that's the best they can do they're in for a surprise, that thing won't even scratch him." said Sanji relieved. The other Straw Hats were thankful, not for the first time, that their captain was made of rubber.

"Let me go! I'm not gonna tell you anything!" yelled Luffy as Porchemy advanced on him, swung the hammer over his head and brought it crashing down on top of Luffy. When the dust cleared, they could see that Luffy was bent double beneath the hammer. A few seconds later however, Luffy pushed it off him with his head, grinning mischievously and, of course, completely unharmed. The Straw Hats grinned too, while Porchemy's men freaked out in the background.

"My body turned to rubber after I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi! I'm a rubber man!" said Luffy, still grinning.

"A devil fruit, huh? Looks like you had a real one." muttered Porchemy to himself. "You! Get me a pair of gloves!" he shouted at one of the pirates behind him.

"Gloves? What does he think gloves are gonna do?" asked Franky confused.

Franky's question was almost immediately answered when the pirate assigned to go and get the gloves came back with, indeed gloves, but they were covered in horrible, four inch long spikes.

"Shit." said Sanji, effectively summing up everyone's thoughts.

Luffy was tied up to one of the rafters of the shack, dangling in the air about six feet off the ground. Porchemy started to walk towards Luffy, shoving his hands into the spiked gloves as he went. Luffy eyed them warily.

"Listen up you little shit. What your friend Ace stole from us was an important sum of money for our crew... you know where it is, so tell us already!" Porchemy growled at Luffy, towering over him and flexing his fingers menacingly.

"No!" Luffy shouted stubbornly, even though his eyes flickered with fear.

Porchemy didn't say anything, he raised his fist and punched the side of Luffy's head so hard, that had he not been made of rubber, his neck would have snapped. Specks of blood fell to the ground and coated the spiked gloves. Luffy was trembling and tears made their way down his face, mingling with the blood flowing from under his dark hair. He was biting his lip as if he was trying to keep quiet, but started screaming a few seconds later.

"GYAAAAAAHHH! IT HURTS! I'M SCARED! HELP ME!" he screamed, crying hysterically.

"You guys go and search for Ace and Sabo!" Porchemy told the men behind him. He then continued to beat Luffy into a bloody pulp, the small boy now emitting screams of pain with every blow.

Each scream was like a knife to the Straw Hats hearts, it was almost unbearable to watch. Nami was sobbing into Robins shoulder, unable to watch the brutal abuse being done done to her tiny captain. Robin was crying silently as she tried to comfort Nami. Chopper and Usopp were crying angry tears, both were in shock that someone could be this cruel to an innocent child. Franky had a hand on Chopper and Usopp's shoulders and was glaring at the ground. Brook seemed to be staring into nothingness, but his tall skeletal frame was shaking with suppressed anger. Sanji was cursing violently under his breath, trying to distract himself from Luffy's piercing cries. Zoro was about ready to kill something, his expression was one of absolute rage, his fists shaking and teeth clenched.

It went on for hours. The light in the shack was turning red from the setting sun. Luffy wasn't even screaming anymore, only small yelps and sobs. He was now covered in his own blood that was seeping from nasty puncture wounds on his head, shoulders and even his chest and stomach that were somewhat protected by the rope. The Straw Hats couldn't take it anymore.

"How long is this gonna go on?! Can't they see he's not going to tell them anything?!" cried Usopp. Chopper had buried his face into Usopp's leg, covering his ears with his hooves.

"Where the fuck are Ace and that Sabo kid?! Are they just going to abandon him again?!" Zoro growled dangerously, his voice raised. He was about to go an an angry rant when one of Porchemy's men started talking.

"P-P-Porchemy-san! It's no use doing it anymore! He doesn't have the energy to even scream now, I bet he won't say anything and to be honest I can't stand watching it, it's too cruel! Show some mercy!" the man pleaded. Porchemy turned away from Luffy and kicked the man into the wall.

"Look for Ace and Sabo if you have time to speak for the brat! Can't you see that we are the one's that are in danger here! We're already too late to give that money to Captain Bluejam!" Porchemy shouted before turning back to Luffy and delivering another sickening blow to the child.

"Answer me!" Porchemy yelled in Luffy's face.

"I-I won't say." said Luffy quietly in a hoarse voice. He was immediately met by another spiked fist.

"You little shit! Stop trying to keep a secret like a grown up!"

Another blow.

"SAY IT!" roared Porchemy.

Luffy's eyes were clenched shut, tears streaming down his face like a never ending river. "I wont say." he said again. "I won't say... I won't say."

"Fine. Enough." said Porchemy, straightening up and letting his hands fall to his side.

The Straw Hats sagged in relief, but were on guard again as they realized something. 'There's no way he's just gonna let him go.' And sure enough, Porchemy went and picked up his sword that was leaning against the wall, dragging it through the earth as he walked back towards Luffy. He swung the sword over his shoulder. "Then you die." he said quietly.

The Straw Hats were panicking, it didn't matter that this was a memory and that he obviously hadn't died in this incident, how was Luffy going to get out of this?! There was no one to save him, no one cared about him.

Just when Porchemy was about to bring his sword down upon Luffy, one of the walls of the shack exploded and Ace and Sabo jumped through. "STOOOOOOP!" they yelled together.

* * *

I was going to put the part where Luffy thanks Ace and Sabo for saving him in this chapter, but I figured you guy's would rather I updated sooner. Also I am aware that Franky and Brook hardly have any lines. This is because I find it really hard to write their characters and I don't want to write something that doesn't fit them. Oh, and the 'who the hell is Sabo an why haven't we heard about him' reactions will come, so don't worry. :)


	4. Acceptance

**Chapter 4**

**Acceptance**

* * *

Ace and Sabo both jumped in front of Luffy, crouched in defensive stances.

"ACE!" cried Luffy.

"That's him Porchemy-san! He's the one who stole our money!" shouted one of Porchemy's men, pointing at Ace.

The Straw Hats were surprised to say the least, and of course relieved. Someone had finally come to save their captain.

"What the hell took them so long?! If they were going to save him anyway, why wait till the last moment?" said Sanji, agitated.

"They didn't care about killing him earlier, why the sudden change of heart?" muttered Zoro darkly.

Ace immediately attacked Porchemy, but was grabbed by the neck by his massive hand.

"Showing up on your own makes things easier, this friend of your's was so tight-lipped I was starting to get worried!" growled Porchemy, his fingers closing tighter around Ace's neck. Ace struggled, but couldn't break free.

"L-Let me go! Sabo!" Ace gasped. Sabo immediately came to his aid by smacking Porchemy hard on the side of the head with his pipe, causing the pirate to drop Ace to the ground.

"That hurt pretty bad you know." said Porchemy in a dangerous voice, looking down at Sabo, a trail of blood down his face. "You know what happens when you make fun of grown-ups don't you?!"

"Your opponent is right here! ...Sabo! Help him!" shouted Ace from behind Porchemy.

Sabo nodded. "The guy has a sword! Be careful!" he shouted back. Sabo then ran quickly over to Luffy, knocking a dagger out of someones hand on the way and used it to cut the ropes binding him. Sabo caught Luffy before he fell to the ground, then turned back to Ace who was still fighting Porchemy. "I've got him! Let's get out of here Ace!"

"You go on ahead." said Ace with his back towards Sabo and Luffy, facing Porchemy.

"You idiot! Come on!" shouted Sabo.

"Once I face an enemy, I never run!" said Ace, a fierce determination in his voice.

"Stop it Ace! He's on a completely different level than the thugs in the city!" shouted Sabo, now getting desperate.

"Oi, aren't you giving in to your urges a little too much? Just hand over the money nice and easy, you little brat!" said Porchemy, jabbing his sword at Ace's face. Ace whacked the sword away from him. "We're gonna make much better use of it!" Ace shouted at Porchemy.

"Enough with the bullshit!" Porchemy roared. He swung his sword at Ace again, harder this time. Ace tried to block it, but Porchemy's sword cut clean through Ace's pipe and managed to leave a nasty cut on his forehead.

Sabo, who was still holding Luffy, made a noise of frustration. "You... wait here a minute." he said quickly to the younger boy in his arms, dropping him unceremoniously to the ground and running to stand by Ace. "You're being too reckless! Why do you always do this?!" said Sabo.

"Ha! If I lose to a pair of shitty brats, I'll quit piracy!" Porchemy laughed.

"THEN WE'LL MAKE YOU QUIT!" Ace and Sabo yelled as they ran forward to attack Porchemy.

Luffy was watching the fight with wide, shocked eyes from where he lay. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, he'd probably never seen a fight like this before. Ace and Sabo were taking damage, but managed to fight on a fairly even level with Porchemy. At long last, after taking one of Ace's powerful kicks to the face, Porchemy fell to the ground, unconscious.

The Straw Hats were quite impressed with their fighting skills and strength, it was obvious they fought often, as their teamwork was near flawless.

The two boy's didn't waste any time hanging around, Sabo grabbed Luffy off the ground and ran with Ace back to the jungle. Nobody tried to stop them, Porchemy's men had run away the moment Porchemy was defeated.

Once they were a good way into the trees, Ace and Sabo finally slowed down and came to a halt next to a huge tree. They must have arrived at a hiding place of sorts, because Ace went behind some bushes and came back with a load of bandages. He threw most of them to Sabo, and then sat down to bandage up his own arms that were covered in cuts and scratches.

Sabo quickly bandaged himself up before tending to Luffy, who had been in a shock-like state this whole time. But when Sabo started to clean and bandage him up he began to sniffle and before long he was wailing loudly, tears cascading town his face once again. The other boy's ignored it.

When Sabo was finished he went and sat down next to Ace. Luffy now looked like a mummy, his whole body was covered in bandages and plasters covered most of his face. He was still crying his heart out, crying away all his shock and pain over the Porchemy incident.

"Man, that's one bad habit you have there, Ace. Refusing to run from a real pirate like that! Do you want to die or something?!" Sabo scolded Ace over Luffy's wailing.

Ace ignored his friend, occupying himself with fixing his broken pipe and shooting annoyed looks at Luffy. So Sabo continued. "After this, Bluejam will never forgive us. We're going to be chased now!"

"That was sooooo s-s-scary! I thought I w-was gonna d-d-die!" Luffy cried, still sobbing uncontrollably.

Nami had the sudden urge to hug him, the poor kid obviously needed it.

Ace had reached his limit. "WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU'RE SO ANNOYING!" he roared at Luffy, jumping to his feet, his face full of annoyance and anger. "HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO CRY FOR ANYWAY?! I HATE WEAKLINGS AND CRYBABIES! YOU REALLY PISS ME OFF!"

The Straw Hats stared at Ace in shock and anger.

"The kid was just tortured for hours, and all Ace can do is yell at him? Not cool bro." said Franky with a disapproving frown.

"Even if Luffy is sometimes annoying, Ace is being downright cruel!" said Nami.

Luffy instantly clamped his mouth shut, trying to suppress the sobs racking his body. Ace was surprised, he obviously didn't expect Luffy to actually stop crying. Luffy surprised Ace and Sabo even further by bowing his head to them.

"Th-thank you... for saving m-me." stuttered Luffy, his breath still hitching.

"Damn you!" Ace shouted back, getting riled up again.

"Oi oi, he's just thanking you." said Sabo as he grabbed Ace's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down.

"I want to know why Ace is being such an angry bastard, he was nothing like this when we met him." muttered Sanji, frustrated.

"Yeah! Why is Ace being so mean to Luffy? He's so angry and scary!" said Chopper, eyeing Ace's fierce glare.

"I doubt Luffy is the whole reason for Ace's behaviour, in fact, I would say that Luffy is only a very small part of the reason." said Robin solemnly. The others looked at her questioningly.

"What do you mean, Robin?" asked Usopp.

"I think that Ace simply doesn't know how to react to someone thanking him. And if the way this Dadan speaks about him is any indication, I doubt he's ever had any contact with such a loving and accepting person as Luffy. Ace doesn't know what to do with it, and so he reacts in the only way he knows how, violence and aggression." Robin explained.

The rest of the Straw Hats took a moment to absorb this new insight, they now saw Ace in a new light and felt most of their anger at him drain away. Nobody questioned Robin's theory, Robin was never wrong, and it made a lot of sense if you thought about it.

But then, what made him change? Everyone knew the answer.

Luffy. Just as he had saved his nakama from their pasts...

"Thats so... sad." whispered Nami.

"I don't get it! Why didn't you spill the secret?! Those guy's would kill women and children without a second thought!" Ace shouted at Luffy.

"If I told them... I could never be your friend." said Luffy, his voice hoarse and his eyes shadowed by his hat.

"That would still be better than dying wouldn't it?! Why do you want to be my friend so much after all I did to you?!" Ace shouted, his frustration and confusion very obvious now.

"Because..." Luffy began, his sobs starting up again. "B-because..." he looked up at Ace, his eyes filled with tears, his fists tightening. "I DON'T HAVE ANYONE ELSE!" Luffy screamed, his voice cracking with grief. Ace's eyes flashed with something like recognition at Luffy's outburst, before Luffy continued. "I can't go back to Foosha village! And I hate those mountain bandits! If I didn't chase after you, I'd be all alone... Being alone hurts way more than pain!"

Luffy's words struck deep.

"Loneliness is indeed a terrible thing. It saddens me that Luffy-san had to learn this at such a young age..." said Brook gravely.

Ace didn't look angry anymore, just frustrated and confused. "What about your parents?" he asked.

"I don't know... I just have ji-chan." answered Luffy. He wasn't crying anymore and seemed to be calming down, now that Ace had stopped shouting at him.

"I wonder what happened to his mother... I mean, we know about his father, but his mother's never been mentioned." Nami wondered aloud.

"Maybe she died in childbirth or something." suggested Zoro.

"I don't know man, this is Luffy's family we're talking about, his mother probably turns out to be a Yonko or something." said Usopp.

"Or maybe she's in the revolutionary army too!" said Chopper.

"Then why didn't they just raise Luffy there?" countered Usopp.

"Maybe it was too dangerous."

"Good point."

Chopper gasped dramatically. "Maybe there was a conspiracy within the marines and-"

"You're taking this too far!" yelled Nami, cutting Chopper off.

"So if I'm with you... it doesn't hurt?" Ace asked quietly.

Luffy nodded.

"And it's bad when I'm gone?"

Luffy nodded again. Ace was quiet for a minute, his brow furrowed and his eyes dimmed. "You want me... to live?" he asked softly, looking fixedly at Luffy.

The Straw hats frowned, for Ace to ask something like that meant that the boy had been told he shouldn't live enough times for him to actually start believing it.

"Of course I do!" Luffy said loudly.

As soon as Luffy answered, Ace turned his back towards him, apparently not wanting Luffy to see the small, hopeful smile that graced his lips. "I see..." he whispered before raising his voice slightly. "But still, I hate spoiled kids like you." he said, scratching the back of his head.

Luffy jumped up angrily. "I'm not spoiled! I'm strong!"

"Strong? How are you strong?! You're a boy, but you keep crying like a girl all the time!" shouted Ace, turning to face Luffy again.

"Have you ever been punched with a spiked glove?! I'm only seven! I won't cry when I get to be ten like you! I'll be much stronger!" Luffy shouted back at Ace. Their noses only inches apart as they glared at each other.

"I didn't cry when I was seven either! You idiot! Don't compare yourself to me!"

"I'm gonna be stronger than anyone else! I promised Shanks that I'd become a great pirate!"

"A pirate?! You?!"

"Thats right!"

"As if!"

"I'm going to be one!"

The Straw Hats were relieved. Yes, Luffy and Ace were arguing, but it wasn't a genuinely hostile one, in fact they were somewhat reminded of Zoro and Sanji's daily fights. Something had shifted and it seemed Ace had finally accepted Luffy.

Sabo, who had been watching the whole thing quietly, walked over to Ace and Luffy and pushed them apart. "Ok, thats enough." he said with a certain finality. "I've got a problem here."

"A problem?" asked Luffy.

Sabo nodded. "Because of what happened today, Bluejam will be trying to find and kill us. I've lived in this trash heap my entire life, what do you think would happen if I fell asleep somewhere and they attacked me?" he said.

"You'd die." said Ace bluntly.

"You'd definitely die." Luffy agreed.

"Exactly. That's why I need to stay with you at Dadan's place." said Sabo.

"Right, lets go then. They'll all be asleep by now so we won't have to deal with Dadan until tomorrow." said Ace before walking off, Sabo and Luffy followed.

* * *

**Aaaaaaaand another chapter finished! I decided to dig deeper into Ace's character, I really love his character, he's right up there in my top 3 with Luffy and Zoro. So yeah.. this was part of my interpretation of him. Next chapter: The adventures of the three brothers begin. Plus who the hell is Sabo reactions :) Til next time!**


End file.
